Privacy policy

Last updated: 15 October 2026.

Sterling Trading Ventures Pty Ltd (ABN 38 699 483 602), which runs sterling-ventures.au, respects your privacy. This policy explains how we handle personal information under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and the Australian Privacy Principles. We apply these principles in full.

What we collect

• Enquiries and quotes: your name, company, job title, email, phone, project details, delivery location and anything else you choose to send us through our forms, by email, phone or WhatsApp.
• Business contacts: the work contact details of people at importers, merchants, builders, resorts, mills, freight forwarders and other businesses we deal with or may deal with. We collect these from you, from your organisation’s website and other public sources, and from business contact data providers.
• Newsletter: your email address, and your name if you give it, when you subscribe.
• Suppliers and service providers: contact details and the information needed to check a supplier, such as company registration, ownership where available, certificates and sanctions screening.
• Website use: technical information such as browser, device, pages viewed and approximate location, collected by our website platform’s statistics and cookies.

We do not ask for sensitive information, such as health or political information. Please do not send identity documents or payment card numbers by email or through our forms.

Why we collect it

• To answer enquiries, prepare quotes, source and ship timber, and manage our relationship with you.
• To meet our legal obligations, including tax and company records, timber legality due diligence, biosecurity, customs and sanctions screening.
• To send you information about our products and services. We send commercial emails only with your consent, or where consent can be inferred under the Spam Act 2003 (Cth), for example from a business address you have published that relates to your role. Every email identifies us and includes an unsubscribe link, and we act on requests within five working days. You can ask where we obtained your details.

Who we share it with

Only what is needed, and only for the purposes above:

• mills and suppliers, freight forwarders, customs brokers, inspectors, insurers, banks and payment providers;
• our accountant and professional advisers;
• service providers that host our website, email, accounting, contact database, document signing, automation and AI tools;
• government agencies where the law requires it.

We do not sell personal information.

Overseas disclosure

Some of these recipients are outside Australia. The countries most likely to be involved are the United States and New Zealand (software and cloud services), and countries where we source or deliver timber, such as Indonesia, Malaysia, South Africa and other countries in Africa, Asia, the Middle East and the Pacific. We take reasonable steps to make sure overseas recipients handle personal information consistently with the Australian Privacy Principles.

AI tools and automated decisions

We use AI software, including Anthropic’s Claude, to help draft, sort and summarise emails, records and reports. These tools may process names, contact details and the content of correspondence. A person reviews the output, and every decision about you is made by a person. We do not use computer programs to make decisions that significantly affect your rights or interests, or to do things substantially and directly related to such decisions. If that changes, we will update this section first.

How we keep it safe and for how long

• Information is stored with reputable providers, and access is limited to people who need it. No online system is completely secure.
• Business records, including orders, invoices and due diligence records, are kept for seven years as Australian law requires.
• Enquiries that do not lead to an order are kept for up to three years after our last contact. Newsletter details are kept until you unsubscribe; we then keep your address only on a suppression list so we do not email you again.
• If a data breach is likely to cause serious harm, we will notify you and the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner as the law requires.

Cookies and website statistics

Our website uses cookies to work properly and to count visits. You can block or delete cookies in your browser; the site will still work. You can browse the website without telling us who you are. We need your contact details only to answer an enquiry or send a quote.

Access, correction and complaints

You can ask to see or correct the personal information we hold about you, or make a privacy complaint, by emailing chirag@sterling-ventures.au. We will reply within 30 days at no charge. If you are not satisfied with our response, you can contact the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner at oaic.gov.au.

Contact

Privacy contact: Chirag Kanabar, Director, Sterling Trading Ventures Pty Ltd, Level 1, 162 Grand Boulevard, Joondalup WA 6027, Australia · chirag@sterling-ventures.au · +61 419 316 749.

Changes

We review this policy at least once a year and post any update on this page with the date.